When I was younger – much younger – I was an avid Nancy Drew Mysteries reader. I think I had 20 or so of the books. My goal at the time was to read through all of them (I think there were 55 at the time). I never made that goal, but I did get one thing so much cooler – The Nancy Drew Cookbook.

One of my first and most treasured cookbooks.

It’s one of three cookbooks I received from my mom that I absolutely treasure. The other two are The Little House Cookbook (based on recipes from the Little House books) and Mom’s first cookbook, Wendy’s Kitchen Debut. I may give away or sell my other cookbooks, but I’ll be buried with these.

There was a recipe in Nancy Drew that I really wanted to try. In Chapter 6 – Album of International Recipes – I came across a recipe called “Italian Salsa di Pomodoro”. Not knowing what the Italian meant, I read the recipe anyway and figured out it was spaghetti sauce. It was so different from the sauce that Mom made (hers is a wonderful amalgamation of sauce and lots of vegetables; sometimes, she would make meatballs, too). This was just a simple unadorned sauce.

The first time I made it, I think I burned the onions. I still finished the sauce and the family gamely ate it. I’ve since gotten better.

This book was also responsible for the infamous “A Keene Soup”, or, as my family called it, Peanut Butter Soup. It was not a success. In fact, it was really gross. They’ve never let me live it down. I don’t blame them.

However, the “Old Attic Stuffed Tomato” and “Flag Cake Symbol” from Chapter 5 – “Nancy Tells Her Holiday Secrets” were pretty successful. I liked the stuffing so much that I was nibbling on it while I was making the recipe. That’s when Mom had to point out to me that eating raw sausage wasn’t a good idea.

Back to the sauce: as I progressed as a cook, I set aside this little book, but I always remembered the base of this recipe – onion, tomato, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar – and decided to make my own sauce recipe that would be simple, quick, and versatile. I think this sauce is it. I’ve used it as a base for Red Clam Sauce, added Italian Sausage, added shrimp, made Chicken Parmesan, Lasagna, as a pizza sauce, etc. The list is extensive.

A few notes:

1. If you can’t find or don’t want to use fresh basil, you can use any other fresh herb you prefer. Just be judicious with the amount. For example, if you use too much oregano, your sauce will taste like soap. Always begin with less than you think you need. You can always add, but you can’t take out.

2. You can also use dried herbs in this recipe. Begin with 1 teaspoon and add it when you add the red pepper flakes to the onion & garlic.

3. You can add any protein to this sauce. Just add it when you add the fresh basil at the end. If it’s something like sausage, be sure to cook it before adding to the sauce. If it’s fish or shellfish, you can add it raw, but just make sure it’s cut into small enough pieces that the heat of the sauce will cook it through.

4. This recipe makes a lot of sauce. It freezes well and can be frozen for 3-4 months.

Lower heat to medium and add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until the paste begins to take on a burnt-orange color. (If the paste begins to stick to the bottom or becomes too brown, add a little water or broth.)

The tomato paste turns burnt orange as you cook it because you’re cooking the sugars in the tomato. It adds a little sweetness to the sauce and helps smooth out some of the heavy flavor of the paste.

3. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes (with their juice), 1/2 teaspoon each salt, pepper, and sugar. If the sauce is very thick, add some water or broth to thin it a bit. (Be careful, there will be some spatter as the sauce begins to bubble.)

It’s been a seemingly unending winter here in Central Texas. At least our version of it. Damp & chilly with the occasional freeze and subsequent public freak-out.

So, seeking out “hearty” comfort foods to try to ignore Winter’s lingering visit is simply human nature. In that spirit, I decided on Oyster Stew for dinner last week.

I suppose one could call this a chowder. It certainly has some milk (my preferred chowder base) in the broth. However, this recipe only uses 1 cup of milk, is thickened with a roux, and doesn’t have any bacon or salt pork in the recipe as traditional chowders do.

I do serve it with oyster crackers, though.

Note: In this example, I did use clam juice. It has a fairly neutral flavor and is readily available.

If you do use a commercial seafood-based stock, be careful of how much salt you add. Commercial stocks, especially seafood, can be salty. Some of it is simply from the natural saltiness of the seafood and some is from the addition of salt during manufacturing.

1 1/2 pt. oysters (keep any oyster liquor [juice] – it will be added with the milk)

A beautiful oyster from Quality Seafood Market. I was assured by the fishmonger that the red was simply the color of the food they were filtering – not Red Tide. It’s too cold for Red Tide in this hemisphere right now, anyway.

The oyster with its connective muscle removed. I generally remove this from the oyster because I don’t like the texture. It’s easy to remove; just pull it out (try not to take too much of the oyster meat with it). However, you can keep it in if the texture doesn’t bother you. To see the muscle in the oyster, look at the above photo. It’s opaque and plastic-looking.

Juice of 1 lemon

1 c. milk or half-and-half

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter or heat the oil. Add the celery and onion and saute until the vegetables are soft but not browned, about 3 – 5 minutes.

Sauteing the onion and celery.

2. Add the potatoes and continue sauteing just until the potatoes begin to warm up, about 3 – 5 minutes.

Adding the potatoes. While I generally don’t like to use Russets in soups, they are the best potato to use for stews and chowders. It’s their starchy quality that just works for these dishes.

Add the thyme, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and the Old Bay Seasoning. Stir until the vegetables are coated with the seasonings.

The spices and thyme added.

3. Add the stock or broth. Cover the saucepan and bring the liquid to a boil. Once the liquid comes to a boil, uncover the saucepan, turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

Adding the clam juice

After about 20 minutes of boiling. The potatoes are just about done and the broth has thickened slightly.

4. Meanwhile, make the roux. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until it is mixed thoroughly with the butter. Stir over the heat for an additional 2 minutes. Take the skillet off the heat and set aside.

Making the roux. You want to stop at a blonde roux.

5. When the potatoes are done, add the roux, lemon juice, milk, and oysters (along with their liquor). Continue cooking until the milk is heated through, the stew is thickened a bit more, and the oysters are cooked, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Adding the rest of the ingredients.

The stew has thickened up. Try not to let it come to a full rolling boil. A few bubbles on the surface is fine, but you run the risk of overcooking the oysters and curdling the milk if you let the stew boil.

As I sit here on this rainy & chilly day, my mind and appetite turn to soup.

This recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup is a hearty soup that is quick (especially if you use leftover or store-bought rotisserie chicken) and can be easily be made either ahead or after a day at work. Or, almost better yet, what to feed your family the day before a big holiday (hint, hint); this recipe can easily be doubled.

This soup is certainly a recipe that shouts TexMex at you. It is certainly more Tex than Mex – mainly because Mexican cuisine doesn’t use blended chili powders. If any chile powders are used at all, they are of a single chile (i.e. ancho, guajillo).

This soup can also easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth and omitting the chicken. If you want the added protein, you can add beans, extra-firm tofu, seitan, tempeh, or even simply extra hominy in place of the chicken.

The ingredients (chicken broth not shown)

The hominy. I like to use both yellow and white. It’s simply a personal preference. There’s absolutely no difference in the flavor. For a brief explanation of what exactly hominy is, go here.

Adding the spices. Be sure to stir pretty much constantly; you want the spices to have a scent (this means the oils are cooking). You want to take care not to burn them.

Add the hominy and tomatoes and saute another 2-3 minutes.

Adding the tomatoes and hominy.

3. Add the chicken broth.

Adding the chicken broth. Once the soup is cooking, be sure to stir frequently to keep the hominy from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Cover the saucepan and bring the broth to a boil. Uncover, lower the heat to medium, and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

After 30 minutes. The soup should be somewhat thickened from the hominy.

4. While the soup is cooking, make the tortilla strips. Take 6-8 tortillas and cut them into roughly 1/4-inch wide strips.

Tortilla strips. Be sure to use a very sharp knife so you can get even strips without tearing up the tortillas.

Be sure to separate them. Heat a medium (9-inch) skillet with about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Test the oil by dropping a strip in the oil; it should immediately sizzle. Fry the strips in small batches until they are crispy.

Frying the strips. Be sure to keep them as separated as possible and fry in small batches. Frying the strips should take no more than 60 – 90 seconds per batch.

Drain the strips on paper towels. (Alternately, you can simply serve the whole tortillas or tortilla chips on the side.)

The finished strips.

5. After the initial cooking time, add the chicken, lime juice, and cilantro. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Adding the chicken, cilantro, and lime juice. At this point you’re simply heating the chicken through. Be sure to taste for seasoning.

I’ve been feeling sentimental lately thinking about the foods from my childhood years. I’d forgotten how good some of them were and still are. It must also come with the realization that I’ve hit middle age and how I really need to eat healthier.

Kidra is another one of those dishes from our childhood that my sisters and I remember fondly. It was an every-once-in-a-while dish; it was never one of Mom’s favorites, so we didn’t have it too often. But, when we did have it, my sisters and I would gorge.

Traditionally, it’s a recipe that is baked in a large narrow-necked clay pot called a tanour (التنور). The pot was filled with the ingredients, sealed with a flour and water paste, and buried in an oven built into the sand where it was left to cook for hours and up to overnight. Once cities started growing, people would send not only their bread to the bakeries, but their tanour pots as well. In some very remote areas, the Bedouin still cook Kidra this way.

Now, many families have tanours made of lined copper that can be placed in the oven or on the stove (my parents have one) and it generally takes less than an hour for the Kidra to cook.

This is dish cooked all through the Palestinian regions and families in the Middle East, but it is most popular in Gaza, where, from what I can tell, the dish originated.

A few notes:

1. If you don’t have a tanour, don’t worry. I don’t either. I used my Dutch oven. It works well.

2. Lamb is the most traditional meat to use in this dish. You can use beef if you prefer. Either way, be sure to use a stew meat (shoulder, round).

3. Some people will use saffron or osfour (the stamen of the safflower) to give the dish a yellow color. It is totally optional. My parents never used either of these in this recipe, so I don’t either.

4. Another traditional ingredient in this recipe is whole heads of garlic that are added just before the tanour goes into the oven. My parents never used garlic in their Kidra. After doing some research, I decided I wanted to add garlic in my own recipe. However, instead of whole heads of garlic, I use peeled cloves. I like it.

Again, this is completely optional.

5. If you don’t have whole cardamom pods for this dish, it will be fine without them. However, you do miss out on some of the traditional flavor if you don’t use them.

6. While white rice is most commonly used, you can use brown long-grain rice (brown basmati works well). Just add an additional 1/2 cup of liquid and add 15 -20 minutes to the cooking time.

7. You can make this vegetarian by using vegetable broth or water, omitting the meat, and adding more chick peas and/or fava beans. If you’d like to add some green, use fresh green beans (not haricot vert) and saute them at the same time as you would the chick peas.

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, toss the meat with the spices.

Spiced lamb.

2. In a Dutch oven, or, if you’re lucky, you have a tanour, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in batches; you want to get a good sear on the meat. If you crowd the pan, they will simply steam.

Browning the meat. Don’t crowd the pan or instead of a nice brown crust, you’ll end up with grayed steamed meat.

After each batch of meat is browned, take it out of the Dutch oven and set it aside. Repeat until all of the meat is done.

The finished (so far) meat. I just put it in the overturned Dutch oven lid. It’s a Dad thing.

3. Saute the onions and garlic in the Dutch oven, about 5 minutes. If you need to keep the brown bits on the bottom from burning, add about 1/4 cup of water or broth to help deglaze the pan. (It doesn’t have to be an exact measurement. Just eyeball it.) Stir frequently.

Cooking the onion and garlic. If you need to, like I did here, add a little water or broth to deglaze the pan to keep the lovely browned bits from burning.

4. Add the rice and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Stir constantly.

Adding the rice.

Add the chick peas and cook another 2 – 3 minutes. Again, stir often.

Adding in the chick peas.

Then add back in the meat, cardamom pods, and the water or broth.

Adding the meat, cardamom pods, and broth.

5. Bring the water or broth to a boil on the stove. Cover the Dutch oven and place it on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 30 – 45 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

In the oven.

Alternately, you can cook this fully on the stove (especially of you don’t have an oven-safe pot) on low heat for about 45 minutes, or, again, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Panzanella is one of those dishes that simply screams summer. It is at its best when tomatoes are in season, and, especially, fresh from your own garden.

Panzanella (literally meaning “bread in a small basket) is a Tuscan recipe that, before the 20th Century, was based on onions, bread, olive oil, and basil. It wasn’t until the 20th Century that tomatoes were added; no doubt out of desperation and poverty.

The earliest known description of Panzanella is by the painter Angolo di Cosimo (“Bronzino”; 1503 – 1572). He sings the praises of onions with oil and vinegar served with toast and, a page later, speaks of a salad of onions, purslane, and cucumbers.

The best things about this recipe? It’s easy, fast, and there’s no cooking involved. More reasons it’s perfect for summer.

(some information from wikipedia.org)

A few notes:

1. This should go without saying, but use the best ingredients you can find and/or afford. Panzanella traditionally has few ingredients, so they all need to shine. There’s no way to mask indifferent ingredients in this recipe.

2. Use at least day-old bread. If your bread is too fresh, it will become gummy. Also, use a good European-style crusty bread. Most American-style breads don’t have the hard crust needed.

3. Some Panzanella recipes soak the bread in water and then squeeze it out before using. Others will have the bread soak in olive oil. I use the latter method. I prefer some bite to my bread; I find the water method makes the bread too soggy for my taste. However, if the bread you are using is very hard, then the water method may be the way to go. Be sure to slice the bread into thick slices and soak for about 20 minutes. Squeeze out the water before cutting or tearing the bread. (Perhaps even do half-and-half water and tomato juice.)

5. This salad is really best the day it’s made. You can eat it the next day (just let it come to room temperature after you take it out of the fridge), but the bread will be soggy. Unless that’s what you prefer.

The ingredients (the tomatoes I chose to use were small-to-medium sized, but they still added up to roughly 2 lbs.)

Ranch, Blue Cheese, Thousand Island. Three dressings that have been ubiquitous on the American Dinner Table for decades. Of course, being American, these dressings have been adapted to serve other purposes than just coating lettuce. They are used for dipping vegetables, marinating, as a sandwich ingredient, and for mitigating the heat of Buffalo Wings.

Each one of these has an origin story that shows off, even in some small way, American ingenuity, taste, and not a little desperation.

Ranch Dressing was created on the true-life Hidden Valley Ranch (a dude ranch) near Santa Barbara, CA. The originator, Steve Henson, was said to have come up with the original recipe while working as an electrical contractor in Alaska. When he and his wife opened their dude ranch in the early 1950’s, they served the dressing to guests and it became a hit. They began selling kits to guests to take home and make their own dressing (just add buttermilk). The Hensons managed to build a small empire on their dressing, eventually selling their company to Clorox in the early 1970’s (the company still owns the brand).

Thousand Island Dressing has a slightly more murky history. One story is that Oscar (Oscar of the Waldorf) Tschirky introduced the dressing to patrons of the Waldorf Hotel in New York via his boss, George Boldt, who was served the dressing while on a boat tour in the Thousand Islands in upstate New York. It was said the chef on board basically threw together a salad dressing with whatever he had on hand, and it became a hit. Another story, probably the more likely one, is that Sophia LaLonde, the wife of the fishing guide at the Herald House on the Thousand Islands, came up with the recipe in or around 1911 to serve at the hotel and shore dinners there. The Broadway actress May Irwin enjoyed the dressing so much she asked for the recipe. Mrs. LaLonde obliged, and Ms. Irwin took it back to New York and gave the recipe to Mr. Boldt so the kitchen could prepare it for her. Once the Waldorf began offering the dressing to its patrons, the dressing became popular throughout the country. The Holiday House Hotel in the Thousand Islands still sells the original recipe dressing at the hotel and online.

Blue Cheese Dressing has a very murky origin story. It has been suggested that it originated in France, but that’s highly unlikely. The French prefer lighter vinaigrette-style dressing on their salad; it’s doubtful that putting cheese in their salads would even occur to the French. Blue cheese has been in America since at least the Revolution where that well-noted Francophile, Thomas Jefferson, enjoyed it at his dinner table. The first recorded evidence of Blue Cheese Dressing as we’ve come to know it (Then known as Roquefort Dressing) was in Edgewater Hotel Salad Book in 1928. An earlier version of the dressing appears in the Fannie Farmer’s 1918 Cookbook. By the 1930’s the dressing had spread in popularity not only through Fannie Farmer, but also through Irma Rombauer’s ubiquitous book, The Joy of Cooking.

For the Blue Cheese: Omit the sour cream and cheese; substitute vegan mayonnaise and plain soy milk; use crumbled hard

tofu to get the texture of the cheese; add tahini and apple cider vinegar (start with just a small

amount and add to taste). If you have some nutritional yeast, you can also use that for additional cheesy flavor.

For the Thousand Island: Substitute the mayonnaise for vegan mayonnaise.

2. If you can find it (and it’s getting easier to), use “country style” buttermilk. The flavor and thickness make so much difference in the finished dressing.

3. If you must use dried herbs in the Ranch Dressing, use 1/2 the amount of the fresh in the recipe. The dressing will need to sit for an hour for the herbs to infuse their flavor.

4. For the Blue Cheese Dressing, I used Amish Blue. I have used gorgonzola, roquefort, and Stilton in the past. Extravagant, but delicious. You can use any type of blue cheese you like – as your cheese department and budget will allow.

5. For the Thousand Island, I usually add more than 1 teaspoon of horseradish depending on what I’ll use it for (i.e. Reubens). So, adjust according to your taste.

6. You can substitute low-fat yogurt for some or all of the sour cream. If you must.

7. All of these dressings will last up to a week. If they begin to separate, just give them a stir. The Blue Cheese Dressing, will, however, thin out considerably as it sits. Just add more mayonnaise and sour cream to thicken.

Now, I will say, these are my versions of these dressings (and, no doubt, many others have made these same adjustments). You can certainly add, subtract, and/or change ingredients. For example, the original Thousand Island Dressing uses finely chopped egg in the recipe; I don’t. The original Ranch Dressing is made with buttermilk only; I’ve added mayonnaise. I’ve added lemon juice to the Blue Cheese Dressing. I, like many, have also added bacon from time to time (it’s excellent on burgers when you feel like indulging).

Sometimes, I like to go all ’70’s and use an Iceberg wedge when I serve any of these dressings. A dear, late friend of mine, Chef Roger Mollett, used to say, “Iceberg is the polyester of lettuce”. He’s right, you know.

Salade Niçoise has its origins in Nice, Provence, France. No one really knows the complete origin story of this dish. However, there is the ongoing legend that Catherine d’Medici brought a form of it to France before her marriage to Henri II. How much credibility this has, I don’t know; but Nice is less than 20 miles across the Mediterranean from Italy.

The basis for this salad is its seasonality. You use what you have fresh and in season. Few, if any, of the ingredients are to be cooked (although, more modern versions certainly ignore this edict). And, because of Nice’s proximity to the Mediterranean (and Italy), tuna and anchovies were added somewhere along the way.

The always main components of this dish are eggs (usually hard-boiled; sometimes poached), tomatoes, black (preferably niçoise) olives, green beans, and either tuna, anchovies, or both. It is always dressed with a vinaigrette. There are recipes that include artichoke hearts, white beans, radishes, potatoes, beets, corn, bell peppers, asparagus, cucumbers, green olives, mayonnaise, mushrooms, basil, tarragon, rosemary, and scallions. Just to name a few.

So, basically, a French Cobb Salad made with whatever the chef has fresh in their kitchen.

I myself prefer a much more simplified version. I try to stay as close to the traditional as possible. By keeping it simple, I feel, each component can come through. According to David Lebovitz’s post on Salade Niçoise (http://tinyurl.com/4rfsgjf), the original recipe stated that you don’t use anything cooked in the salad except for the eggs. Nor are tuna and anchovies ever in the salad together. Well, I certainly bucked that tradition. I think it’s all right in this case since cooks in Provence skirt the rules on this as well.

A few notes:

1. You can use canned tuna in place of the tuna steak. 2 cans should be sufficient (but you can use more if you like). Be sure to use a good quality brand packed in olive oil. Be sure to read the label and avoid any that have extra flavoring (StarKist comes to mind). Drain off the oil before you add the tuna to the salad.

2. if you can’t find Niçoise olives, you can use Kalamata. Just be sure to chop them a bit before adding to the salad.

3. If you are using pitted olives, be aware that pits can still occur (especially with Kalamatas). Whether you’re using whole or pitted olives, warn your guests about the pits.

4. If you want to make this dish vegetarian/vegan, omit the anchovies, tuna, and eggs. Use chopped garbanzo beans in place of the tuna (or, use a good recipe for “garbanzo tuna”; there are many available) and soft or firm-silken tofu cut into bite-sized pieces in place of the eggs.

5. Some will lay the salad components on the serving dish separately, while others make more of a tossed salad-style. It’s up to you how you like to serve.

The Ingredients

Big Eye Tuna. You can use canned tuna, but fresh is better.

Nicoise Olives. They are a small olive with a slightly smoky, peppery flavor. These are pitted, but if you do have to use whole olives, let your diners know.

1. Make the vinaigrette: In either a medium bowl (if making by hand) or in a food processor or blender, mix together all of the ingredients except for the oil. Either constantly whisking the mixture by hand or with the food processor or blender turned on, pour in the oil in a slow, steady stream. (You don’t want to add the oil too quickly; it won’t incorporate and the vinaigrette will separate.)

Once you have mixed in all the oil, taste for seasoning and adjust if you like. Set the vinaigrette aside.

The finished vinaigrette. I like it a little more on the sharp side. If you want a milder flavor, add more oil.

2. Prepare the fava beans (if using): As you probably noticed in the main ingredient photo, fava bean pods are quite large. To open them, you will need to press the pod lightly on the seam and pry open with your fingers (it’s easier than it sounds). Remove the seeds and place them into a bowl.

Fresh fava bean. The pods are fairly deceptive. They’re thick with an almost cottony inside with any where from 3 – 5 beans. The pods should be bright green (a little speckling is fine), shiny, and no soft spots. The beans inside should be plump and light green (this is from the extra skin on the beans that you’ll remove later). If you find any beans that are brown or shriveled, discard them.

The shelled beans.

Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the fava beans and blanch for 3 – 5 minutes. Drain the beans and either run them under cold water or plunge them into ice water. Drain.

The beans after boiling. Notice how the skins are loosened.

Here’s how to remove the skins from the beans in 3 easy photos:

Getting ready to peel the bean.

To peel the bean, simply make a small tear in the skin to expose the bean.

Then, slip the bean out of the skin. Discard the skin. Add the beans to the bowl.

Easy.

If you can’t get fava beans (they’re still fairly seasonal), you can either use blanched French green beans (haricot vert – a very thin green bean) cut into 1/2″ lengths or edamame beans (If you use frozen, just cook them according to the direction on the package and let cool.)

3. Boil the eggs: There are no doubt a thousand ways to boil and peel eggs. Some work, some don’t. For me, the best way I’ve found is to place the eggs in a saucepan filled with water and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes.

Drain off the water and immediately place the eggs into ice water and crack the shells (leave the eggs under the water). This allows the water the get between the shell and egg and make it easier to peel.

After boiling the eggs, immediately plunge them into ice water and crack the shells. The water will get between the shell and egg and it will be easier to peel.

ta da!

Cut the eggs into quarters lengthwise and set aside.

3. Cook the tuna: Lightly coat the tuna in olive oil and sprinkle on some salt and pepper on each side. Heat a skillet over high heat on the stove. When the skillet is hot, lay the tuna steak in the skillet and let it sear until the side is lightly browned. Turn the steak over and sear the other side.

Now, if you like your tuna very rare, you can stop at this point. If you prefer medium-rare to medium, continue to cook the tuna on the stove, turning once more, until it’s done to your preference.

If you prefer your tuna well-done (as my husband does – at least for this), have your oven preheated to 450F. If your skillet is oven-proof, take the skillet off the heat and place it in the oven for 5 – 7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the tuna steak.

Searing the tuna.

Remove the skillet from the heat, take the tuna out of the skillet and set it on a plate to cool slightly. When it is cool enough to handle, either cut the tuna into bite-sized pieces (as I prefer), or you can chop it so that it resembles canned tuna.

4. Place all of the vegetables (except the mixed greens), olives, eggs, anchovies, and tuna into a large bowl.

Ready for the tuna and vinaigrette. Pretty, isn’t it?

Pour over the vinaigrette and mix thoroughly.

5. Place a large handful of the greens on a plate. Take a couple of large scoops of the salad and place it on top of the greens. Be sure to get a little of everything. Serve immediately.

As comfort foods go, Fasoulia was another one my sisters & I were rewarded with as we grew up. It is a delightful stew consisting of (at least in the Palestinian tradition) of lamb, tomatoes, and green beans.

In fact, the word “fasoulia” in Arabic literally means “bean”.

Fasoulia is a dish that is found in several versions throughout the Middle East, Turkey, North & Sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Europe. There are versions that use white beans (Syria & Lebanon), red beans (Lebanon), with carrots (Ethiopia), and with olives and greens (Greece).

The version I’m making is the one we grew up with (and the one I learned from my mom – who makes the best Fasoulia I’ve ever had, by the way). It’s in the Palestinian style, with lots of tomatoes.

A few notes:

1. You can make this dish vegetarian/vegan by simply omitting the meat and using vegetable broth.

2. This dish is always served over rice. I like to serve over saffron rice (because that was the way my sisters & I grew up eating it). However, if you want to use plain white rice, or even brown rice (especially if you’re making the vegetarian version), go for it.

3. If you don’t like or can’t find lamb, you can use beef. Use chuck. It’s meant for stewing and braising.

4. Use regular, fresh green beans for this dish. Don’t use frozen or haricot vert (French green beans). They won’t hold up to the cooking time.

5. This is generally served with browned pine nuts sprinkled over the top as garnish. However, if you don’t want to go to the expense of or can’t find pine nuts, browned slivered almonds are an excellent substitute.

The Ingredients

The lamb. Be sure to trim it of most of the fat. Keep some, but get rid of any really large pieces.

The beans. Use regular green beans; not haricot vert or frozen. They won’t stand up to the cooking.

Clockwise from top: salt; black pepper; allspice

1 med. onion, finely chopped

2 lbs. lamb, trimmed and cut into 1″ cubes

2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1″ to 1 1/2″ pieces

3 tbsp. olive oil or clarified butter

1 28-oz can whole tomatoes (try to buy without basil; if you do get basil, pick out the leaves)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. allspice

2 c. beef or chicken broth

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil or butter over medium-high heat. Add the meat and cook, in batches if needed, until it is browned.

Browning the meat. If you get the bone, use it. It adds a lot of flavor.

2. Add the onions to the saucepan and cook until they are softened, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Adding the onions.

3. Add the beans and cook another 3 – 5 minutes. Stir frequently.

And now for the beans.

4. Add the tomatoes, spices, and broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook until the meat is tender, about 1 hour. Taste for seasoning.

With the tomatoes, spices, and broth. And away we go.

5. Serve with rice with a few browned pine nuts or slivered almonds on top.

This time of year provides the perfect excuse to break out some of the recipes that I would never make the rest of the year. Which, in central Texas, means that I have only about 3 months to indulge in some of my favorite comfort foods.

Ossobuco is one of them. With the rich lamb, sauce, and risotto, it’s a wonderful accompaniment to a cold night.

The name literally means “bone with a hole” (osso – bone; buco – hole). Ossobuco is a dish (legendarily) created in the Milano area in northern Italy in the 19th century. Some say it was created by local farmers as a way to cook tougher cuts of meat (i.e. shanks – the shin portion of the leg. The fore shank is the bottom part of the shin; the hind shnk the upper part of the shin.); others, it was created in an osteria.

The original recipe is made with veal shanks, cinnamon, and bay leaves with no tomato. The more modern and more popular version is made with tomatoes, vegetables, and red wine. And, while veal shank is still used widely, lamb shank is gaining in popularity.

As for myself, I prefer the lamb shanks. I find they have far more flavor. And, if you can get hind shanks, more meat for the money.

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A few notes:

1. In this example, I’m using fore shanks. The butcher I bought these from didn’t have hind shanks that day. But, they were large and worked well in this dish. Also, I bought these still in the cryovac packaging. The butcher had received them from the farm that morning and they hadn’t been fully trimmed yet. More than likely, the shanks you buy will be already trimmed and ready to go.

2. If you prefer not to use wine, then you can omit it all together. As substitutions for red wine you can use extra stock for deglazing (you can add 1 tablespoon red wine or balsamic vinegar per 1 cup of stock for tartness), or 100% cranberry or pomegranate juice; for white wine, you can use extra chicken or vegetable stock (you can add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white wine vinegar to 1 cup of stock for tartness), verjus (a juice made from unripe green grapes), or unsweetened apple cider or juice.

3. The traditional accompaniment for this dish is risotto. However, of you prefer, you can also serve this with polenta, mashed potatoes, or pasta. If you do use pasta, use a shaped pasta (such as campenelle or rotini) or a wide pasta (such as paprdelle or bucatini).

4. Gremolata is served alongside the Ossobuco as a way to cut through the richness of the dish.

The ingredients for everything.

The ingredients for the Ossobuco.

The produce: Starting from top left – lemon zest, garlic; middle, from top – carrots, celery, onion; right, from top – thyme, rosemary

Lamb shank fresh from the farm. If you can get hind shanks, do so. These fore shanks were great. I just had to clean them.

Cleaning the lamb shank. You must remove the silverskin (or have your butcher do it). It doesn’t cook down and your meat will be chewy and tough.

The cleaned lamb shank. Admittedly not perfect, but a whole lot better.

Lamb Ossobuco

4 large lamb shanks (preferably hind shanks)

Salt

Flour

3 tbsp. Olive Oil

1 lg. onion, minced

2 carrots, peeled, either diced or cut into thin rounds

2 stalks celery, diced

3 cl. garlic, minced

1/2 c. tomato paste

1 c. dry red wine

2 sprigs rosemary

4 sprigs thyme

1 ea. 2″ strip lemon zest

2 – 3 c. chicken or beef broth (or a combination of both), more if needed

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly sprinkle salt on the lamb shanks. Then, lightly flour the them, shaking off any excess flour. Set aside.

2. In a large Dutch oven or a deep, stove-proof casserole dish, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the lamb shanks and sear until browned. Cook the them in batches if needed. Remove the shanks from the heat and set aside.

Browning the shanks. Do this in batches if you need to; don’t crowd the pan or the shanks will steam and not brown.

3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the vegetables and garlic and saute until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes.

Sauteing the vegetables.

Add in the tomato paste and cook another 3 – 4 minutes.

Adding the tomato paste. Let the paste cook until it begins to turn a burnt orange color. This is the sugar caramelizing and helps to deepen the flavor.

Add in the red wine to deglaze the pan and cook another 5 – 7 minutes to reduce the wine and soften the flavor.

4. Lay the reserved shanks on top of the vegetables and add just enough broth to come halfway up the shanks.

Ready for the oven.

Cover the casserole or Dutch oven and place in the oven. Cook for 2 to 2-1/2 hours (flipping the meat halfway through) or until the meat is tender. Check for liquid content, adding more if needed.

5. After you take the baking dish out of the oven, remove the shanks and set aside.

So tender, it’s falling off the bone.

If you like, set the baking dish on the stove over medium-high heat to reduce the sauce. Remove the rosemary and thyme stalks and discard.

I like to reduce the sauce a bit to concentrate the flavor. It’s up to you, however.

6. Traditionally, the shank is served whole with the risotto and Gremolata. However, if you prefer (and I do if I use fore shanks), trim the meat off the bone and mix it back into the sauce; then serve with the Risotto and Gremolata.

The meat trimmed off the bone. I prefer to do this if I use fore shanks.

The meat back in the sauce. You can do this if you want to help stretch the meat. I like to do it when I use fore shanks.

Saffron. The world’s most expensive spice (currently about $3000/lb.). It comes from the stamen of the Crocus flower. It takes approximately 50,000 – 75,000 flowers to make one pound of saffron.Be sure to buy saffron that is in it’s whole form. Don’t buy powdered saffron; it’s usually cut with turmeric.

Risotto alla Milanese

6 c. stock – beef, chicken, lamb, or vegetable

1 tsp. saffron, crushed

4 tbsp butter

1 small onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 c. carnaroli or arborrio rice

1/2 c. dry white wine

3/4 c. fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Bring 5 cups of the stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and keep the stock warm. In a small saucepan heat the remaining 1 cup of stock with the saffron. Again, reduce the heat to low and keep warm.

2. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Sauteing the onion and garlic.

Add in the rice and sauté, stirring constantly, another 5 minutes.

Adding the rice. This will help to flavor the rice and begin the cooking process.

Add a pinch or two of salt, stir again, and add in the wine. Stir constantly until the wine has been absorbed by the rice.

Adding the wine. At this point, constant stirring of the rice will help to release the starch.

3. Lower the heat under the rice to medium. Begin adding the 5 cups of stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until the broth has been absorbed.

Adding the broth. Be sure to constantly stir the rice.

After you have added the 3rd cup of broth, add in the broth with the saffron. Continue stirring.

Adding the saffron broth. Now, the risotto will become its classic yellow color.

4. After you have added the 5th cup of stock, begin testing the rice to make sure it is al dente. You may not need all the broth. When the rice is al dente (or to your liking), add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the Parmigiano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.